The
federal government yesterday disclosed that it had negotiated a $15 billion investment
with the Indian government for the oil and gas sector.

The
minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, stated this in
Abuja yesterday in a statement signed by the director of press in the Ministry
of Petroleum Resources, Mr Idang Alibi.

According
to the statement, the negotiations were part of the three-day investment drive
of the minister’s visit to India.

According
to the statement, part of the terms would be for the Indian government to make
an upfront payment for crude purchases to Nigeria, adding that Nigeria would be
repaid on the basis of firm Term Crude Contracts over some years, with Indian
public sector companies collaborating in the refining sector as well as in
exploration and production activities.

He explained
that long term contracts for supply of crude to Indian Public Sector
Undertaking (PSU) companies from Nigeria and possibilities of executing City
Gas Distribution (CGD) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) infrastructure
projects by Indian PSU companies in Nigeria were part of the negotiations.

The
statement noted that Kachikwu had concluded talks on the investments in
Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in a bilateral meeting with his Indian
counterpart, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, adding that both ministers acknowledged
the existing and significant engagement between the two countries in the
hydrocarbon sector.

Available
record shows that between 2015 and 2016, India imported nearly 23.7 million
tons of crude, which was nearly 12 per cent of India’s overall imports, and
over two million tons of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Nigeria.

As a
result of the negotiations, the two countries agreed to work on a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to facilitate investments by India in the Nigerian oil and
gas sector.

According
to NAN, the investment would specifically be in areas such as Term Contract,
participation of Indian companies in the refining sector, and oil and gas
marketing.

Others
include upstream ventures, the development of gas infrastructure and the training
of oil and gas personnel in Nigeria.

“The MoU
is expected to be firmed up in December 2016 during PETROTECH-2016.

” Both
ministers also agreed to strengthen the existing cooperation in the oil and gas
sector, and, in particular, to explore investment opportunities for Indian
public and private sector companies in Nigeria,” it said.

It added
that the minister had one-on-one meetings with top executives of Indian public
and private sector oil and gas companies.